Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado is preparing to open next Thursday, April 22nd, and to celebrate, the park will be offering several exciting new guided tours. Additionally, the Fair View Lodge, the only hotel within the park’s boundaries, has spring time specials for those who elect to stay on site when they visit.

The most popular attraction in Mesa Verde is the world famous cliff dwellings that were once inhabited by the Pueblo Indians, prior to their move from a hunter-gatherer tribe to a more advanced agrarian society. The park offers a number of great interpretive tours of those ruins, including the three-hour long “Classic Pueblo”, which includes visits to Triple Cities, Square Tower overlook, Sun Point and Sun Temple, The tour also includes a hike to Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The price for this archeological and cultural walk through the past is just $35 for adults and $17.50 for children 11 and under.

For something a bit more in depth, check out the “Far View Explorer”, which is five hours in length and includes visits to a number of archeological sites throughout the park, including the Spruce Tree House in the Chapin Mesa area. The cost of this tour is $25 for adults and $12.50 for children, and includes a box lunch.

Finally, the half-day long “700 Years” tour visits Pueblo sites that span the length of the tribe’s history, beginning in 600 AD and running through 1300 AD. Visitors are shuttled throughout the park aboard comfortable coaches, taking short hikes on a variety of trails and visit ancient dwellings. Running four hours in length, the price of this tour is $45 for adults and $34 for kids 11 and under.

To entice visitors further, the park is offering their Spring into Mesa Verde package for travelers who want to spend the night at the Fair View Lodge. $139 gets you a nights stay in a standard room at the lodge and includes two reserved seats on the Classic Pueblo tour. This price reflects a 25% savings over booking the stay and tour independently. To make your reservation, call 866-292-8295 or visit visitmesaverde.com and use the promo code SPRING10.